Jose Cortez's body was pulled from the Hackensack River on Tuesday after a three-day search, police said.

On Sunday afternoon, Cortez, 39, of Hackensack, walked behind the Heritage Diner, ignoring his two friends' pleas, and waded into the Hackensack River. Cortez told his friends he was going to swim to Bogota.

Before his friends could stop him, Cortez began swimming, appearing to struggle before his friends lost sight of him beneath the water.

Cortez's body was found at about 3 p.m. near where he went into the river.

His two friends searched the area for more than an hour to no avail Sunday, sparking a search effort by Hackensack, Maywood, Parsippany and Bogota authorities that even brought the state police NorthStar helicopter.

Hackensack Riverkeeper Bill Sheehan said it's always been an interesting area of the river, with the diner and naval museum nearby. The water in the area has been measured as deep as 20 feet but can fluctuate significantly, Sheehan said.

"It’s not conducive to swimming," he said of that spot.

Cortez's body was taken to the Bergen County Medical Examiner's Office, with his cause of death to be determined by an autopsy.